Hervé Ghesquière and Stéphane Taponier - a year in captivity

It's a year since French journalists Hervé Ghesquière and Stéphane Taponier were kidnapped in Afghanistan and events are being organised throughout France to mark the anniversary.

Screenshot from YouTube video paying hommage to the two journalists and their colleagues

On Tuesday the families of the two men were invited to the Élysée palace to watch a video sent by the captors to the French authorities and reportedly filmed in November.

It apparently showed the two men alive and "calm but emaciated".

Ghesquière and Taponier, staff journalists for the French public television station France 3, were taken captive, along with three Afghan colleagues - Mohammed Reza, Ghulam and Satar - as they were travelling in Afghanistan’s Kapisa province around 120 kilometres northeast of the capital Kabul.

While the French government has at various times issued statements insisting that negotiations for the release of the two men are progressing, they remain captive and their families have spoken to the media for the first time about their frustrations.

"When the foreign minister) Michele Alliot-Marie speaks of a 'short time', we say to ourselves it's imminent," Taponier's father Gérard told Agence France Presse,

"And then Christmas is already gone... We are still hoping for good news, but it gets you down."

It was a sentiment echoed by Taponier's brother, Thierry, who told Europe 1 radio that they had constantly been promised that things were moving but little seemed to happen.

"We're in a kind of limbo," he said.

"In spite of what government ministers and politicians have said, we have absolutely no idea what's happening there (in Afghanistan) and why things aren't advancing."


Thierry Taponier : "on est dans le flou"
envoyé par Europe1fr. - L'actualité du moment en vidéo.

To mark the anniversary of the two men being taken hostage, a rally will be held outside the Hôtel de Ville (Town hall) in Paris with a portrait of Ghesquière and Taponier being hung from the facade of the building and a candlelight vigil later in the day.

Similar rallies will take place in towns and cities across the country and in Montpellier, the home city of Taponier, a charity concert is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

Over the past year the campaign to secure their release has been supported by colleagues, with a constant reminder of their captivity at the end of news bulletins, sports stars who appeared in a video clip appealing for their release, and some of the top names from the French music industry who participated in a free concert in Paris at the end of October.

There's a Comité de soutien (support committee) with a website keeping daily track of activities and reminding us all as to how long the two men have been held.

And you can sign an online petition (it's in French) should you wish to show your support.